In recent news regarding cryptocurrency exchanges, a member of the British Parliament has quit his role with a cryptocurrency exchange just four days after joining the company, analysts have estimated the daily volume of the over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency markets to be $250 million, and Poloniex’s new terms of use have banned residents of Germany, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, and three U.S. states from accessing its platform.

UK MP Joins Exchange as Adviser, Quits Within a Week

Stephen Hammond, the former vice-chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom and current member of the Treasury Committee, has quit his job with cryptocurrency exchange Ironx after just four days.

Hammond has purportedly been hired to “advise on government relations” – a role that would see him remunerated with 50,000 IRX tokens (valued at approximately $0.42 each) as compensation for his “two or three” days of work per “quarter.”

Regarding his decision to leave the company so soon after joining it, Hammond stated that he “probably should have given it more thought.” After initially accepting that he would recuse himself of “inquiries into the crypto world,” Hammond claims to have surmised “that crypto is increasingly going to be a major part of the financial world and therefore it may well affect a number of Treasury Select Committee inquiries, and potentially, therefore, that might cause a greater conflict than I had first hoped it might. And therefore I decided, to avoid any conflict of interest and to avoid any embarrassment, that I should stand down from the advisory board.”

Industry Insiders Discuss OTC Markets

The 2018 bear market resulting in thin order books across major exchanges, many traders look to exchange significant size are believed to be trading via the over-the-counter markets.

“The big deals have to go OTC. A lot of the exchanges limit the order size, so you have to break up your orders, and that’s just fatal,” stated Monica Summerville, director of fintech research at Tabb Group.

Lucas Nuzzi, director of technology at Digital Asset Research, agrees, arguing that “for a lot of institutional investors, OTC is really the only way they can trade the most liquid assets.” Nuzzi indicated that Digital Asset Research estimates the daily volume on the OTC markets to currently comprise roughly $250M worth of trade.

Frank Wagner, the co-founder of Invao, believes that a lack of sophistication in the means available for purchasing large quantities of cryptocurrency may be deterring institutional investors from entering the virtual currency markets. “Currently, some parts of the cryptocurrency industry are organizing six-figure trades over Skype and Telegram – very similar to how old-school Wall Street brokers and traders would call clients to bring buyers and sellers together. Clearly, this can’t be the most secure and effective way to execute these trades and may be a reason that many institutional investors are deterred from getting involved,” Wagner stated.

New Poloniex Terms of Use Block Citizens of Several Jurisdictions

Poloniex recently revised its terms of use, barring traders from several jurisdictions from accessing the exchange. The new terms of use took effect from the Oct. 18 for new customers and will come into effect one month later for existing accounts.

The update states that Poloniex will no longer offer services to “Persons who have their registered office or place of residence” in China, Germany, Pakistan, Vietnam, the U.S. states of New Hampshire, New York or Washington, or “any other Restricted Territories” – which are defined as “Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any other country to which the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union embargoes goods or imposes similar sanctions.”

What do you make of the estimate that OTC trade produces $250M in volume daily? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia

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